Close Reading of Scudder's "Look at Your Fish" (1874)

Introduction and Overview

Samuel H. Scudder composed Look at Your Fish in 1874. The piece is a narrative and anecdote recounting Scudder's first encounter with Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz, who was at that time an accomplished zoologist working at Harvard University's Lawrence Scientific School. Scudder was an entomologist who studied under and was mentored by Agassiz during his time at Harvard. "Look at Your Fish" is Scudder's recollection of his first day in Professor Agassiz's course and the first class exercise the professor assigned. The essay is told in a chronological, linear fashion.

There are several groups for whom this piece is the intended audience. One audience could be college students; another could be professors at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The piece would also be relevant to any teacher or anyone serving in a teaching and/or leadership role. Scudder's thesis is direct, yet it appears at the conclusion of the work. The writing has a basic formality in structure and formatting while remaining slightly less formal in content. Scudder does not write to persuade his audience; readers infer from the tone that the author's intent is to share a moment in education that influenced him personally, professionally, and academically for years to come. Scudder successfully conveys a "teaching moment" he had with a professor through his tone, organization, and succinct writing.

Scudder describes a non-traditional learning experience he had under Professor Agassiz. Through this experience, Scudder learned the value of several things — chief among them, patience and taking one's time. The solution to the problem or exercise that Agassiz puts before his class does not come instantaneously. Often, the attitudes of adolescents and young adults in advanced societies have lost touch with the concept of solutions arriving over time. In an instantaneous, attention-deprived information age, any form of waiting is unbearable and is frequently perceived as an unnecessary nuisance. Scudder learned that with close examination and time, some of the answers to the toughest — and even the simplest — problems will come to us.

Educational Themes: Patience and Close Observation

Scudder illustrates the potential for education to be interesting and challenging in unexpected ways. Students are often expected to be bored — and frequently are — in school. This boredom can stem from a lack of motivation, yet there are also many motivated and bright students who are not adequately stimulated by formal education. In this case, Scudder had a very interesting and somewhat profound experience as part of his coursework at Harvard, and in a very unexpected fashion.

Key points of "Look at Your Fish" include: pay attention, cultivate awareness, remain open-minded, accept that mistakes and failures happen, and recognize that sometimes the correct answer is also the most obvious one. Mainly, Scudder presents an educational experience in order to expand students' and educators' ideas of what learning can be. The essay's broader relevance to pedagogy lies in its quiet argument that meaningful instruction can occur outside conventional lecture formats.

Non-Traditional Learning and the Purpose of the Essay

Scudder uses a great deal of dialogue and relatively little narration to make his points. The level of diction is academic because he is describing an academic experience within an academic setting. The language is also somewhat informal and personal, as narration is dispersed throughout the piece — mainly in the form of descriptions of Scudder's feelings or inner monologue as he relives and recounts the anecdote for the implied reader. There is little, if any, slang. The writing is a mix of academic, formal, and conversational language, which renders it appropriately informal at times. The tone is one of dry humor. Agassiz comes across as brilliant but eccentric, difficult but well-intentioned.

The following passage illustrates the essay's tonal balance well:

Conclusion

Scudder wrote "Look at Your Fish" as a description and recollection of an odd, yet beneficial experience he had in school with his future mentor. The writing is succinct. The tone is detached but friendly. It is not a pushy, aggressive, or persuasive essay. The essay is more philosophical in character — it is an anecdote the reader should reflect upon and ponder. Hopefully, every student at a college or university will have a class with a professor who inspires them and who teaches them a lesson that lasts a lifetime in a uniquely unexpected way.